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Monday, July 18, 2016

Step away from the news edition

I guess we're about halfway through summer, and maybe it's time for me to go find some things to do -- in service of my project for the week, avoiding the news.

The last couple weeks have been so awful, in so many ways. I do not have high hopes for this week, either.

Albatross-related activities have kept me chained to the desk for so long that I hardly remember what it's like to just go someplace for the view, go to see a movie, go run those errands that have been on perpetual hold.

49 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Enjoying the view is a wonderful idea!

I have been working on trying to assemble a portfolio of work in order to advance my teaching license, providing multiple examples of evidence for a variety of standards of teaching practice. It is about as much fun as it sounds.

AW: My niece is here for three weeks! But, (W) :My daughter and her cousin did not get into the same group at camp. Both were very anxious when I left them this morning. Hopefully by the end of the day, things will feel happier and they will have met people and feel comfortable.

Be gentle and patient with yourself, Miranda. Your body has been through a trauma and will take time to recover. (Easy for me to say, I know).

AW: one of my not-in-the-computer friends is thinking of moving nearby. They stopped by yesterday to visit, as they were looking at houses and neighborhoods.

W: It's still up in the air, for various reasons. I'm trying not to get too excited.

AW: All four of us are headed to the beach tomorrow. We usually go in June, in conjunction with a churchy meeting for Mr. E, but not this time because of the move. So we promised the Baboos we would go later.

Liz,Just realized that the fact that they have started means we probably missed our chance for a meet-up.... :(We were actually away Saturday getting our niece, so it probably wouldn't have worked, but sorry to have missed you...Sounds like Muffin Man had a good time?:) Neighbor Lady

My son is not on the book of visages, but his fiancee is. And sending some photos from the big trip! AND, one of my son's oldest friends just friended me! T was an "extra" at our house for years -- so comfortable here that he'd already be looking in the fridge as he said hi. LOL He has lived away for some time now, but he promised to visit next time he is back. :)

Continued hugs to Miranda, and I'm glad that you're taking your recovery so seriously, and being gentle with yourself.

That's too bad that the meetup didn't happen, Liz and NL! It's so neat that everyone is going to this same camp this summer.

AW: a neat little thing happened today. I went to the little grocery store in our neighbourhood, to buy bread and bananas for a friend (she broke her elbow, biking home from watering our garden when we were away!), and the grocery store had added a single publication to the checkout: the most recent issue of the scholarly journal that published me in 2004. Such an utterly random and neat thing. I bought a copy, because how could I not.

W: my poor little garden! Cabbage moths in the kale and brussel sprouts, and after all this time thinking that the beets are struggling to sprout at all, Mr. Q discovered that birds are eating the leaves as soon as they come above ground!

AW: he spent some time fashioning cages to protect our plants, using chicken wire. We'll see how it goes.

I've been on the verge of that headache returning, and I think it's because I expect to wake up every morning with reports of gunshots -- or another truck massacre, or a coup. Especially gunshots, in an open carry state with things going on.

But today's big story was plagiarism! Which, don't get me wrong, is really fireplacing stupid and unethical; and no, this doesn't just involve "common words." Not avoiding the news as much as planned. Sue is right about more odious things also showing up.

Went to the dermo, and she declared all my skin oddities normal and benign!

But she noticed these spots on my lip -- which I've previously had biopsied, and I was told they are like sun spots, and they'll keep coming back. By the time I got home, she had referred me to the genetics dept. about my lip spots. Trying to get an explanation of what she wants them to look for. ?????

I hope everyone is feeling better. We are still at the beach. The Baboos are more enamored with the indoor pool than the beach, so perhaps a vacation to a different place is in my future....We are headed to the butterfly house at the Botanical Garden this morning, then to the movies. Maybe beach tonight.

Adventures, avoided: murder-suicide in the next neighborhood over.

Adventures, avoided by Baboos but I got to see: man, riding on jetski with his brother, having a seizure. (Brother was driving thankfully). Separate adventure: literally falling-down drunk man put his car keys (with clicker) in his pocket and walked right into the ocean. I'm thinking the clicker didn't work, which is just as well. This is generally a pretty family-oriented beach--party beaches are elsewhere. Baboos were at the pool with Daddy while I was enjoying my umbrella, beach chair, and book.

I should correct myself: an attempted murder and completed suicide in our new town. But still, too much excitement!

W: oh my goodness it is so HOT and HUMID here. We went to the botanical gardens, in hopes of seeing lots of butterflies in their butterfly house. No dice. And so hot and humid we couldn't even enjoy their nice exhibits. Did I mention it was hot?

AW: then we went to the movies to see Finding Dory. That cooled us off.

The old C0stc0 in our town used to have a walk-in refrigerator room -- on the rare occasions when we hit melting-of-flesh temps, everybody suddenly had an urgent need to visit that store. ;) W: now they just have the regular cabinets with doors, so it would be really hard to crawl in there.

SIL update -- She had yet another fall the other day, but no apparent injuries, yay. BUT, she has become disenchanted with her selection of clothing, and started stealing dresses from her [much older] roomie's closet!

Kathy, I'm glad there's no more bark, but am sorry there was ANY bark today!

I'm wiped: I've cooked and baked SO MUCH over the past couple of days. And I had a sudden wakeup in the night, thanks to a kiddo who had a nightmare. I keep being confused by why I'm so tired today, until I start reviewing the events of the past day.

AW: pie! Pie filling! Zucchini muffins with chocolate chips! Bread! And I'm about to try to dehydrate some apricots!

Kathy, that is the cutest. (And if you have an android phone, you can download keyboards that let you slide your finger all over the keyboard, and it guesses your words for you. I have the worst track record for pressing the right letter.)

NL, I'm glad that it sounds like all is well, and that the procedure went well. Crossing appendages that you get good news from the pathologist.

liz: I was really curious to hear what you thought of him, and am heartened that you like him!

AW: we have acquired a large number of patio stones, for a good deal. I'm getting a patio this summer! (And now we just have to figure things out about the crumbling front steps and the work we need to do to build up the grade on the back of the house. Project Summer has begun!)

Today is my 17th wedding anniversary. This week is also the one-year anniversary of a series of events culminating in my telling STBX that the way he treated me and the kids wasn't okay, that I was done with these kinds of relational dynamics, and that something needed to change. </3

((( PK ))) Anniversaries that mark bad turns in one's life are always hard. I'm sorry that this one coincides, partly, with your wedding anniversary. Kind of an emotional overload. xoxo

You have worked hard to get yourself out of an intolerable situation, and protect your kids. That has taken so much strength and love and courage. It has been really awful at times -- but it was the right thing to do. Sending so much love, and hoping that things settle down, that you and the kids are recovering and building some new memories and traditions. xoxox

W: My beloved told me on Friday that he was leaving Sunday [today] on a backpacking trip with his friend -- which I had the impression would happen sometime in August. Except his friend is a notorious flake, so there wasn't confirmation until this afternoon, and suddenly we are hosting dinner before they leave for the mountains. AND I GOT NO WARNING OF ENTERTAINING, so there has been a need to vac and dust and remove the unmentionables of daily life. Plus, beloved is now assembling all the necessaries at the last minute. Conclusion: This is his best friend, but really, wtf?

Kathy: mild cluesticks for the flaky friend, but I'm glad that they're barbecuing.

AW/W? Have acquired a metric buttload of apples. (Okay, a bushel of apples.) Tomorrow I'm going to sort through them and figure out which ones are good enough to store, and then it's time to freeze, and make sauce, and make apple butter. (And trade a basket full of them for garden produce, with the Friend With the Good Garden.) (My in-laws have a nice apple tree, but have cut out sugar, and asked if we'd like all the apples.)

Relieved AW: we've spent the day pricing out the cost of replacing our front steps, because they are crumbling. (They are also very old and are only 6 inches deep, and so they're iffy for feet bigger than a kid's.) In frustration, I said to Mr. Q, "I wish there was a way to repair crumbling concrete steps, and then save money and plan better for next summer." He said, "Oh, you're okay with repairing them and waiting? Because that's cheap and easy."

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